Chocolate Cherry Cake

“You have treated the arts as the cherry on the cake. It needs to be the yeast.”

-Mallika Sarabhai

One of the kids had a sick pal so we dropped off her school work at her house.

When her mom opened the door, the chocolatey scent drifted out to the porch with us.

I asked what she’d been baking. She told me her mother in law had been there and had baked a chocolate cherry cake. It was a family favorite and she insisted upon cutting me a slice to take home to try.

Oh my word!

I called her up the next day and begged for the recipe.

There is nothing to this wicked old school gem!

Granny T has been making a version of this she picked up “from Betty Holstead’s bridge group”, when her kids were little so I suspect it has made it around the block a few times. You might remember it from your childhood. Thanks to Granny T and Betty the bridge player (& our pal Al for falling sick on the right day) for sharing a classic that has become a family favorite in our house too. :

Preheat those ovens to 350 degrees and grease those 9×13 pans, please!

Grab a bowl.

Pour one box of Chocolate Fudge cake mix into your bowl.

2 eggs in next

1 Teaspoon Vanilla

Open and pour one can of cherry pie filling in.

Mix together like you would any old cake, until it all has come together in a beautiful batter.

Pour that batter into your greased 9×13 pan.

Pop that puppy into the oven for 20-25 minutes to bake.

Cake is done, man.

Now let’s make the glaze/icing for the top of that wickedly yummy little cake.

In a saucepan add:

5 Tablespoons of Butter

3/4 Cup of Chocolate Chips

1 Cup of Sugar

1/3 Cup Milk

Stir constantly over medium high heat, mix together this glaze until it comes to a boil.

Takes just a minute of two.

Turn off the heat and let the sauce stand to cool slightly but you want to pour it over the cake while it is still nice and warm.

This creates more of a glaze of sweetness than a traditional icing.

There is a reason for that.

See that edge where it appears to be soaking up that delicious glaze?

When you pour this over the cake and then let it hang out undisturbed for a little bit, it soaks up the chocolatey glaze along the bottom and edges.

It adds a flavor layer that cannot be missed!

I’d love to tell you how long it’ll keep for but my pan is ALWAYS empty within an hour or two.